Sunday, 6 October 2013

Heathcliff and Catherine would have seen these very same mosses in their walks 160 years ago. (Atrichum crispum possibly excepted.)
When Catherine and Heathcliff were young (Wuthering Heights Ch 6:) .. it was one of their chief amusements to run away to the moors in the morning and remain there all day, and the after punishment grew a mere thing to laugh at.

Racomitrium aciculare growing
on a wall top next to the reservoir

Ponden Clough is "Border Country" - The border between Lancashire and Yorkshire.

The Lancashire Yorkshire border is actually a very long border: From Ponden it stretches 40miles NW as the crow flies. I am more used to the gentle agriculturally inproved drumlins south of Hellifield, or the heathery Bowland Fells, between Clapham and Slaidburn; or the limestone wood at Low Bentham or the limestone and caves of Gragareth. But here 15 miles SW, between the former-mill towns of Colne and Keighley, I was surprised to find such wild country.

But in fact , we were walking two miles away from the Pennine Way, and two miles away from Withins Height which looks down onto Haworth of Bronte fame. In the Bronte's time there must have been air pollution from Keighley and Bradford, and some blowing across from Colne..(though maybe it had got much worse by the 1950s.. and now it is much cleaner with respect to SO2).

I approached the site from Colne and Laneshaw Bridge in Lancashire, - following a minor road for 5km with no turnoffs, before dropping down to our meeting place at the head of Ponden Reservoir.

We walked through rough pasture fields to approach Ponden Clough - these steep sided millstone grit valleys are called cloughs.

You can see the long setae (stems) -2.5 cm , and the capsules are not yet fully developed.
The leaves at the base of the setae are minute.
The main photosynthetic organ for the plant is
the protonema which is a green slime on the soil.

Examining the Flag-moss

No walk I take nowadays would be complete without my saying "Oh, look at the Klebsormidium"
Klebsormidium crenulatum - I see this filamentous alga on every walk now.

Tom did say that he had seen green algae on millstone grit walls of the Pennines when he was young.. but was it the same filamentous alga?. We saw it on lots of walls and trees on the walk... It may even have been the alga that was colonising the new plastic stiles that have been built for the Millennium way -- though I would need to check the species more carefully.

Here is a good fruiting specimen of Rhizomnium punctatum ( Dotted Thyme- moss)

We saw six Sphagna: fallax, fimbriatum, palustre, squarrosum, denticulatum and russowi
Here are the last two:-

Sphagnum denticulatum
Cow-horn Bog-moss(The other members of the "Cow-horn" bog moss group all
grow in more basic conditions than
the acid conditions of the millstone grit)

Spagnum russowi - growing with heather on a north facing bank

I call it "Rugby sock sphagnum" because the branches are striped red and green.

On the walls near the road, track and reservoir we found many mosses. I continue to try hard to learn the "Barbula-type" mosses - tiny acrocarps with leaves up to 3m long, that here in fact were making quite big patches.

Didymodon rigidulus This has very straight leaves when wet.
It has a subulate tip to the leaves

Didymodon insulanos - The leaves curve a little when wet.

Greater Pincushion -moss Ptychomitrium polyphyllum

And finally near the reservoir..

Atrichum crispum - (Fountain Smoothcap)

distribution is mostly the Pennines and Wales.
It grows in acid places beside reservoirs and rivers.

It was growing next to the reservoir with .
???Pleuridium acuminatum Taper-leaved Earth moss.....

The earliest British record of
Atrichum crispum
is from Rochdale, Lancashire,by John Nowell in 1848. It is an introduction from N America. All the plants in Britain are male plants. So there are no capsules and no spores here. All the plants could be a single clone, spread by fragments or gemmae. (Nowell worked in the cotton industry and lived all his life in Todmorden on the Yorkshire Lancashire Border. He discovered the first British record of Cynclidium stygium at Malham Tarn.)

We identified 90 different species which is quite good for a millstone grit area... Tom Blockeel will be keying out a few extra ones.. will we reach 100? He will write a report in the YNU Journal next year
A big thank you to Tom Blockeel and the YNU Mosses - Bryophytes Section for running the walk.

"Moss quotes" from Wuthering Heights on the internet:-. the only quote I could find just now is Nellie's report on visiting the graveyard:

Chapter 34 (“Imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth”)

I sought, and soon discovered, the three headstones on the slope next the moor: the middle one grey, and half buried in the heath; Edgar Linton's only harmonised by the turf and moss creeping up its foot; Heathcliff's still bare.

I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.

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Like to learn about Churchyard mosses?. Look out for the Ultra beginners Moss workshop I will be running at St Leonard's Churchyard, Ribblehead, N Yorkshire sometime in the next two months.

Subscribe To The Rainforest Fund, Settle

So far we have raised ..

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Jan-March 2018:£30

(Total for 2018: £30.00)

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December: £235 made up of £191 at Coffee morning - £127 for Coffee and cakes, £64 for cards; plus £10.50 from Cards sold at Settle Spinners and £20 from one person buying cards and £23.50 from other cards - Total for 2017: £557:

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Sep-Nov 2017: £32.50 including £19.50 from Green Christian JIE Conference and £13 from Cards at Growing with Grace (Total-£312)

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June - Aug 2017: £72.50 including £68 from the talk on "Wildflower Walks around Settle" (Total for 2017: £279.50)

In Dec 2012 - so far - £137 :£65 from Rainforest Coffee morning at church. The following is all from cards: £25.5 from sale of cards at coffee morning, and £25 from cards near coffee morning; : £8 at Langcliffe Inst, £13 Growing with grace £10-50 Wholesome Bee, (Total for 2012 = £712)

In June 2012: £40 : from sale of cards:£18 from people from Scargill House on my wildflowers walk and £16 from Age UK people at haymeadow talk (Total for 2012 = £370)

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In May 2012: £74 : including from cards (£14 from sale of cards at Taitlands Tea room at Stainforth; £15 from CCG meeting at Lower Winskill; £20 from Flowers course at Malham Tarn Field Centre; £17 (Total for 2012 = £330)

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In April 2012: £26: from cards (£15 from A Rocha group at Scargill House (Total for 2012 = £256)

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In March 2012: £130: from cards including £75 from Christian Ecology Link Conference at Bristol and £35 donation from Settle Spinners and £20 from Cards in the foyer at St John's (Total for 2012 = £230)

In Dec 2011: £240 including £90from cards including £32.50 from Langcliffe Inst Christmas Sale, £11-00 at WI pantomine, £20 from people at Settle Christmas Day Lunch and £150 donation (Total for 2011 = £1,000)

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In Nov 2011: £50: From cards including £19.50 from Scottish Dancing (Total for 2011 = £760)

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In Oct 2011: £110: From cards including £45 from Worsley Church and £50 from Settle Mothers Union (Total for 2011 = £710)

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In Sept 2011: £30: From cards (Total for 2011 = £600)

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In August 2011: £20: From cards (Total for 2011 = £570)_________________________

In July 2011: £50: From £36 donation form Settle Spinners, (£6-00 cards from Settle Spinners and £8.00 cards from others (Total for 2011 = £550)_________________________

In June 2011: £85: From the profit from the Saltaire Ladies group who came for salad tea at the church hall - £29 plus the cards they bought - £16.50; The Flowers course at Malham Tarn bought £26 of cards. (Total for 2011 = £500)_________________________In April- May 2011: £55 - From My saving buying food on "Live for a £1-00 a day week": £10; Rest from cards including 1 person at Scottish dancing £15 and people at Plantlife day: £16.50 (Total for 2011 = £415)_________________________

In March 2011: £145 - Mostly from sale of cards including:- £50 from CEL conference, £25 from Horton History Society, £26 from WYSOCS; Also a £20 donation (Total for 2011 = £360)_________________________

In Feb 2011: £65 - all from sale of cards including:- £26 from Austwick Field Society and £25 from Settle Gardening Club (Total for 2011 = £215)_________________________

Starting again..in 2011: £150 in by 31 January 2011 including £109 from the Barn Dance and £26 from cards_________________________

£2600 (£600 in 2010) by Dec 31 2010 - Mostly from Greeting cards, but also £32.21 from Settle Spinners and some from a donation._________________________

£2420 (£420 in 2010) by Sept 20 2010 - From the St John's Coffee Morning in August (£106) . Also from the sale of Greetings Cards, including £28 worth from people on courses at Malham Tarn Field Centre - Acrylics, Grasses, Settle Carlisle Line and Staff)_________________________

£2250 (£250 in 2010) by June 30 2010 - Mostly from the sale of Greetings Cards, including £20 worth from people at "Folk at the Falcon" and £30 from one lady who came to the NISCU evening, and £20 donation from people who came on the Environment Sunday Walk._________________________

£2125 (£125 in 2010) by March 31 2010 - including £100 from sale of Greetings Cards and Calendars and another £25 from collection by Settle Spinning Club

_________________________Nov - December 31st 2009 - including sale of Christmas Cards and Calendars

(Total for 2009 = £567 )_________________________Sep-October 2009 - £60-00:- £52 donations at Day of Prayer on 4 Oct. £8-00 from energy meter and sale of cards

(Total for 2009 = £450)_________________________May-August 2009: £68 - £40 from cards from Choir from Dewsbury, £8-00 from profit on sale of tweezers and lenses, £10- from part of Burton in Lonsdale Ceilidh money, £8-00 sale of cards

(Total for 2009 = £47) _________________________£1433 by December 29th 2008 - including £70 from Settle WI£14 from selling Speaking Tips Booklets£70 from selling home-made Christmas cards_________________________£1279 by November 29th 2008- including £25 from a Langcliffe Singer Lady who is giving it to World Land Trust to a relation as a Christmas Present; £35 from Langcliffe Singers; and donations from a couple for receiving computing tuition_________________________£1172 by October 29th- 2008 including £50 made up from donations from 6 people who borrowed the Owl monitor, and an individual donation for £50 - Thanks._________________________£1050 by September 29th 2008 includingover £100 from the "Addingham Friendly Hour" minibus trip where we made them tea)_________________________£920 by July 29th -2008- includinga donation of £4 by a person borrowing an OWL meter - (for monitoring electricity usage)_________________________£883 by June 20th 2008- includinga donation of £100 for Cool Earth by Settle Line Dance Class at the Church Hall and £10 as the first donation online for Cool Earth, and two other donations._________________________£752 by May 20th 2008 includinga donation of £100 for World Land Trust by a family who donated half an acre of land (£25) for each of their four nephews and nieces, who received certificates._________________________£652 by April 19th 2008- includinga donation of £65 from the group who came for coffee_________________________£587 by April 14th 2008- including£160 for A Rocha Ghana£312 for World Land Trust (including £25 online donation and £30 from Scottish Country Dancing at the Hall£115 for Cool Earth_________________________£467 by April 5th 2008- including£110 for A Rocha Ghana£292 for World Land Trust (including £25 online donation and £30 from Scottish Country Dancing at the Hall£65 for Cool Earth_________________________

£392 by March 9th 2008- including£90 for A Rocha Ghana£237 for World Land Trust£65 for Cool Earth_________________________

£295 by February 9th 2008£80 for A Rocha Ghana and£215 for World Land Trust (which will buy 4 acres of forest.)